-The Telegraph New delhi: Official statistics suggest the juggernaut of India's economy has started to roll at a clattering pace. But some analysts stayed cautious, keeping in mind the low investment levels. The Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) today said the gross domestic product (GDP) - the broadest measure of the economy - had grown at a robust 7.9 per cent in the fourth quarter (January-March 2016), which enabled the government to fulfil...

-CivilSocietyOnline.com For the past decade state governments have launched a series of Internet-based initiatives to deliver services more efficiently. Technology has been seen as the best way of bypassing red tape and corruption in the system to reach the poor directly with benefits. Beneficiaries are identified through biometrics and a series of tech solutions like smart cards, micro ATMs and so on. The result of these efforts is that India is...

-The Hindu No action taken against hospitals or blood banks, says RTI activist. In the last 17 months alone, 2,234 persons across India have been infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) while getting blood transfusions. The maximum number of such cases — 361 — was reported from Uttar Pradesh due to unsafe blood transfusion practices in hospitals. Just last week, a three-year-old boy from Assam’s Kamrup district, admitted to the Gauhati Medical College...

-FirstPost.com Water, water, everywhere. That is the thought that strikes you first, as you step into the rural areas of drought-hit Latur. Branded, chilled water bottles pop out of nowhere, when you ask for some drinking water in the middle of a modest village. You notice that a familiar looking label actually hides a different, local brand underneath. Lots of households around use drinking water cans, again carrying those local brands. And...

-The Hindu Figuring out key parameters on which to measure a State’s performance provides a playbook of best practices for others to follow. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act of 2005 (MGNREGA) aims at “enhancing the livelihood security of people in rural areas by guaranteeing 100 days of wage-employment in a financial year to a rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.” In the financial year...